The Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens

Escape to the Jardin Japones

Tucked away in the Bosques de Palermo (Palermo Parks), you will find the peaceful Japanese Gardens, an oasis of calm and serenity in the middle of the crazy, busy, noisy city of Buenos Aires. The gardens are also recommendable as a nice place for couples to go when in Buenos Aires, or to take a date on if you are lucky enough to charm an Argentine while in town.

To be fair, you can just about hear the drone of cars on the main avenues in the background, which spoils your zen a little, but not completely. Also watch out for the occasional school trip of noisy children, or young family, partly because the abundant koi carp and ducks are happy to be fed by visitors, which kids usually seem to enjoy.

Beautifully Maintained Gardens

The park itself is wonderfully kept and very pretty all year round, as the different plants, trees and bushes show their lovely colors at varying points in the calendar. Apart from the koi carp and ducks in the cutely landscaped ponds, there are other easy on the eye features such as sculpted shrubberies, ornate arched red bridges, pattering mini rock waterfalls and zen-like stone and sculpture formations (see right).

Apparently the horticulture on show includes black pine trees, gingko, sakura, and of course, the ubiquitous bonsai trees, that will impress all budding gardeners and karate kids alike.

In case you are wondering ‘why exactly are there Japanese gardens in Buenos Aires?‘, well, they were given as a ‘thank you’ to Argentina, by Japanese immigrants living in Buenos Aires, when they constructed this lovely five acre park in 1967.

Japanese Tea Room & Restaurant

Attached to the gardens, in a pagoda style building, a Japanese tea room and restaurant combo is found (closed on Tuesdays). During the day this offers a range of oriental brews, green teas and cakes, and then during the evening it transforms into a restaurant with authentic Japanese food, specializing in sushi. (If sushi is what you crave, look on Saltshaker for reviews of the best sushi spots all over BA).

Additionally, there are sometimes exhibitions and shows of Japanese culture held inside the same building – try calling ahead to find out if anything like this is happening, on 4804 9141.

Getting There & Getting In

The Jardin Japones is open from 10am to 6pm daily, year round, and costs a small fee to get in. To get there you can take a number of buses, including the 10, 37, 67, 102 or 130.

Failing that, try a taxi, or take a pleasant walk to get there – either through the rest of the Palermo Parks that run along Avenida Sarmiento, before turning onto Avenida Berro, or if you are starting from the Palermo Chico area (where the Malba art museum is located), you could walk along Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, turning onto Avenida Casares to reach the Japanese Gardens. Well worth a sightseeing visit, however you arrive there.

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[…] Both Alan Patrick of Buenos Aires Travel Guide and Buenos Aires Weekly give tours of the Japanese Gardens in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. David Sasaki […]

Vito on
March 13th, 2007 8:26 pm

Wishing you the best to you. In your article on the Jardin Japones you did bring up the question what a Japanese pagoda would be doing in Argentina. Here is some historical trivia on the Japanese in Argentina for your website:

1886 begins the first documented account of a japanese citizen having arrived in Argentina.

In 1904 the Argentinian Navy gave Japan two reknown battleships that fought in heroic battles in the Ruso-Japanese War which was followed by the first Japanese agriculture students to arrive in Argentina that same year.

In 1909, the first Japanese from Brasil arrive as immigrants in Argentina which was followed by the immigration of Japanese from Peru and Japan to that country.

Japanese were first known to work primarily in the agriculture and dry cleaning industries but like all immigrant groups, the generations that followed them have branched out into every area of Argentine commerce and society.

As for the music and the arts, notable Argentinean-Japanese rock/pop groups on the music scene have been “Los Parralenos” and “Los Tintoreros”. An Argentine-Japanese chef does two shows on Japanese cooking for the Argentine Cooking channel…

Anyway, hope this gives some insight to the Japanese history in Argentina.